Ashes 2021: James Anderson backs Cummins to become next Australia Test captain: England pacer James Anderson has thrown his weight behind Pat Cummins to become the next Test skipper of Australia. Tim Paine had stepped down as the captain of the side ahead of the much-awaited Ashes opener.
“I think more bowlers should be captain. The only issue then is trying to get the time off – when you’re off the field, you want to switch off, whereas if you’re captain you’ve got to watch the game and be in it and you can’t switch off maybe as much,” Sydney Morning Herald quoted Anderson as saying.
Ashes 2021: James Anderson backs Pat Cummins to become next Australia Test Captain, says ‘More bowlers should be captain’
“Bowlers do think a lot about the game. We are thinking cricketers now. I think he’d be good at it. You can see he leads brilliantly in the team. He’s a leader of the bowling attack and you can see he’s got that ability, so why not give him a chance? There are lots of arguments why it would suit to have a bowler as captain, but it’s just not the done thing, is it? Captains like to look good at first slip and look like they’re making all the field-position changes and doing all the good stuff. But I’m all for it,” he added.
According to cricket.com.au, Paine announced his resignation as Test skipper following revelations of a ‘sexting’ incident with a former Cricket Tasmania colleague in 2017.
Paine “deeply regretted” the incident and said he was “enormously” grateful to his wife and family for the forgiveness.
Ashes 2021: James Anderson backs Pat Cummins to become next Australia Test Captain, says ‘More bowlers should be captain’
“I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support. We thought this incident was behind us and that I could focus entirely on the team, as I have done for the last three or four years,” cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.
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